A month after ASV and Yanmar finalized their merger, Yanmar rolled out four new compact track loaders at ConExpo, entering a new equipment category for the brand.
With ASV being well-known for CTLs, we wondered how much Yanmar’s new models relied on ASV designs and technology. On this episode of The Dirt, we get the answers.
Buck Storlie, Yanmar and ASV product manager, explains that the new Yanmar CTLs have some significant differences. The Yanmar models are designed more for the construction and utilities industries and the rental market; whereas, ASV’s models have made a name for themselves in the landscaping and forestry sectors.
The biggest change from the ASV machines that customers will notice is the undercarriage on the Yanmar models. But the Yanmar models do borrow some of the design lessons ASV has learned from its decades of producing compact track loaders.
To learn more about Yanmar’s new compact track loaders, how their different from ASV’s and why the brand is entering such a crowded CTL market, check out the latest episode of The Dirt.
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In This Episode:
00:00 - Are Yanmar & ASV CTLs Different?
00:29 - Why Is Yanmar Selling CTLs When It Owns ASV?
01:58 - What Markets Are Each Brand Appealing To?
02:44 - What Are the Differences Between Yanmar & ASV CTLs?
06:10 - How Are Yanmar CTLs Different From Their Competitors?
11:00 - Yanmar’s Late Entry Into the CTL Market

Video transcript

Bryan Furnace:
Today we're here to talk about yet another new CTL coming to the market. I know it feels like this is a very established market, but we still have new companies coming out with new products in this space. And today we're here to talk about Yanmar and their new CTLs and how they're different from their sister machines, the ASV.
What was Yanmar's reasoning behind bringing yet another CTL to market when you guys have recently acquired ASV? What was the thought process there about getting another machine that's kind of competing to a degree with what you've got currently?
Buck Storlie:
Well you know, ASV is really a unique brand, 30 years of compact track loader experience. They've got a unique product we've got in that with the Posi-Track undercarriage. We do products like the smallest compact track loader in the industry all the way up to the highest horsepower compact track loader in the industry and the highest flow compact track loader, so really a compact track loader specialist with that wide range and specialized product.
With Yanmar, it's really... From the point of even discussions around the acquisition of ASV, Yanmar... We need a compact track loader, and we need one that plays in that middle range construction, utilities and rental segments that the Yanmar compact equipment plays in. So Yanmar, we want to be.... We view ourselves as a full-line compact equipment provider. And for North America, with compact track loaders being one of or maybe the largest segment in compact equipment, a track loader is a necessary addition. So with ASV we really wanted to lean on that 30 years of compact track loader expertise, but take with that 100-plus years of Yanmar equipment expertise, and combine and make a product that really fits our full compact construction lineup in that construction utilities and rental segment.
Bryan Furnace:
So it kind of sounds like they're very similar products, obviously, because they're both considered CTLs, but you're really appealing to two separate markets there. Am I understanding that correctly?
Buck Storlie:
Yeah, absolutely. ASV has always been the very high performance, very premium, and then the Posi-Track undercarriage of course, so really has excelled in the landscape markets, in the forestry markets. Those are areas where ASV has really grown a reputation and has maybe what could be referred to as kind of a cult following in those segments. With Yanmar, clearly we have strength in our construction, utilities, rental segments today with our mini excavators, with our wheel loaders, with our carriers. With a compact track loader, we expect the same and wanted to design the product specifically to enter those markets and to perform its best in those segments.
Bryan Furnace:
Gotcha. And so if we could kind of at a high level break down some of the things that really differentiate the new Yanmar CTL offering from the ASV product offering.
Buck Storlie:
I think it's easiest on that one, really, to start from the ground up. The first thing that stands out in a differentiator between the two products is the undercarriage. With the Yanmar CTL, we developed an all-new undercarriage, what we would refer to as a steel embed design, so a traditional steel wheel...